Samsung SDS President Hong Won-pyo. (Photos: Samsung SDS)

Marie Wieck, IBM’s president in blockchain, speaks at the Think Korea Forum at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul on May 24. The two met at Samsung SDS headquarters in Jamsil, Seoul on May 29 to discuss ways of promoting cooperation in the blockchain business.

Samsung SDS, a leader in the Korean blockchain business market, is considering teaming up with IBM to collaborate in areas related to blockchain, including logistics.
Samsung SDS President Hong Won-pyo met with Marie Wieck, IBM’s president in blockchain at Samsung SDS headquarters in Jamsil, Seoul on May 29, and discussed ways of promoting cooperation in the blockchain business, according to sources.
In January 2017, Wieck was appointed to be president of blockchian business for IBM. She arrived in Seoul on May 28 on a business tour, which included her participation in the THINK Korea Forum hosted by IBM and the Maekyung Economic Daily.
Samsimg SDS and IBM have so far joined forces on promoting comprehensive cooperation in the blockchain sector. The latest meeting was designed to take stock of the matters the two companies discussed and strengthen collaboration in the marine logistics sector, the sources said.
IBM sees Samsung SDS as an important partner to spread the Hyperledger, a blockchain platform, developed by IBM on its own.
Samsung SDS operates Samsung Electronics’ logistics services, whose size is significant compared to global standards. IBM is collaborating with platforms based on blockchian with shipping companies.
Samsung SDS has emerged as a business partner that cannot be ignored by IBM. Samsung SDS participates as a general member of the Hyperledger Alliance formed by IBM. Samsung SDS’s blockchain platform “Nexledger” is compatible with Hyperledger.
Samsung SDS is expanding smart logistics business by combining blockchain and AI. In particular, in the marine logistics sector, Samsung SDS verified and secured related technology in a seven-month test after forming a maritime logistics blockchain consortium consisting of 38 organizations in May 2017. At that time, IBM also participated in the consortium.
Beyond these, Samsung SDS boasts of ample blockchain application practices. The company has not only helped Samsung SDI, Samsung Card and other group subsidiaries adopt blockchain technologies, but also it has been selected as a company to establish a blockchain regime in commercial bank and life insurance sectors. Samsung SDS is implementing a similar project in the administrative affairs of the Seoul Metropolitan government.
Samsung SDS’s participating in the Hyperledger ecosystem and its membership upgrade in the blockchain alliance were on the agenda of the meeting between Samsung SDS President and IBM President Wieck. Blockchain is considered the most desirable option for all logistics processes, requiring efficiency and transparency like real-time container tracking, computer aided tracking system, and smart contract solution.
Blockchain is highlighted in the logistics industry, and it is forecast to be spread fast, logistics industry officials said.
Samsung SDS and IBM maintain close relations in several areas. Samsung SDS participated in the IBM Interconnect 2017 that took place in Las Vegas in March 2017 and released the Nexsign, Samsung SDS’s identity verification system with biometric information using your fingerprint, face, and voice, as well as the one-stop biometric certification solution consolidating IBM’s account management solution “ISAM.”